Confederation of British Industries (CBI) Director General John Cridland (Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett) / Reuters

Britain’s most influential business lobby group has said it supports the government’s continued austerity measures, despite cutting its own forecasts for the UK’s economic growth.

The Confederation of
British Industry (CBI) said Monday that cutting the deficit was
the “most important job” facing the government.

The lobby group, which represents some of the UK’s largest
businesses, also expressed concern over the EU’s failure to reach
a deal with Greece.

Economist Michael Burke, meanwhile, attacked the CBI’s support
for further austerity, saying that big business benefits from the
harsh cutback in public spending, causing “misery for
millions.”

James Meadway, a senior economist at the New Economics Foundation
(NEF) was equally critical, describing the CBI's support for
government cuts as "peculiar."

Announcing the CBI’s latest economic forecast for the UK,
director-general John Cridland emphasized the importance of
austerity to business.

“The overriding duty of a government, to make sure the public
finances are in order, has been in poll position on the racing
grid for CBI members for the last five years, and is today. They
consider that is the most important job for the government to do
and it’s a job that is only half done,” he said.

“So we don’t want the government to ease off on austerity. We
want the government to continue to tackle the deficit in the
public finances but to do so in an intelligent way.”

CBI mad. Osborne's last round of austerity collapsed growth.
Cridland wishful thinking if thinks it'll have no effect this
time #r4today

Speaking to RT, he said: “The CBI of course remains a strong
supporter of austerity. This isn't surprising as the purpose of
austerity is to transfer incomes from workers and the poor to big
business. CBI members benefit from that.

“But this does nothing to alleviate the economic crisis,
while causing misery for millions.

“The cause of the crisis remains the weakness of investment,
which CBI members play a key part in causing. They are
perpetuating the crisis and demand that workers pay for it,”
he said.

Their comments follow a warning from the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that Britain should
rein in the pace of its deep spending cuts to public services.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) meanwhile called on
Chancellor George Osborne to abandon spending cuts altogether.

In a staff discussion note published last week, economists at the
IMF said countries whose debts fall into a “green zone”
– where they enjoy low interest rates and a low debt ratio –
should simply live with it.

“The mantra that it is always desirable to reduce public debt
must not go unquestioned. A comparison of costs and benefits must
underpin policy advice,” the note read.

“For countries in the green zone, the case for living with
the debt is a strong one.”

James Meadway, a senior economist at the New Economics Foundation
(NEF), described the CBI’s commitment to austerity as
“peculiar.”

Speaking to RT, he said: “The CBI’s forecast reduction
reflects some unexpectedly poor showings for the UK economy this
year, particularly the slowdown in the official growth figures
[Office for National Statistics] reports. But it makes their
commitment to austerity all the more peculiar.

“Barely a week after the IMF showed austerity isn’t needed
for the UK, and just a few days since the OECD warned the
government over its cuts, further austerity is the last thing
this economy needs.

“Britain’s biggest employers’ organization should be making
the case for increased investment and higher wages, not damaging
government spending cuts,” he added.